Machines used for the handling of web materials frequently require the formation of a plurality of individual rolls of respective webs, e.g. tapes, bands or strips, on respective cores in spaced relationship along a traverse which extends generally transversely to the feed direction of the web.
Typical of such machines is a roll winding machine for the formation of individual rolls from respective web portions which may be formed from a wider web by longitudinal slitting. In such machines the traverse can comprise a guide, e.g. formed by a pair of rails, and each of the individual rolls during the winding thereof may be supported in a pair of winding arms projecting from respective slides having feet which ride along these rails.
In the known roll-winding machines of this type, see for example U.S. Pat. No. 2,501,985, the rails and the feet which engage them, i.e. the guide regions, are free or open to the environment.
These guide portions require lubrication with a lubricant or some other antifriction agent for reliable operation. These materials produce contaminants in operation. In addition, there is a certain degree of wear of the relatively moving parts of the guide region which, although slight, produces additional debris and impurities.
Such impurities resulting from the sliding movements cannot be tolerated in the production of sensitive tapes, especially magnetic tapes and thus such apparatus cannot be employed when clean-room requirements must be fulfilled.
It is known to provide bellows type and telescoping-plate enclosures to prevent the incursion of such contaminants into the surrounding space. However, because the limited space availability and the limitations that the bellows and telescoping-plate arrangements provide for the cut width of the tapes, these approaches have not been found to be practical for magnetic-tape production in many instances.